I've sat through a lot of horror films.
I'm not quite as strong stomached as most
of you out there and some of the reviewers here,
but I have also seen my fair share of explicit,
implicit and just plain disgusting gore. I think
when you watch these films as much as some of
us here at Digital Retribution do, we tend to
overlook just how much and how differently scenes
of gore and violence affect people, as over the
years of subjecting ourselves to whatever challenge
the genre has to offer, we may have become slightly
desensitised to it all. After so many years, I'd
forgotten just how effective David Cronenberg's
masterful remake of The Fly truly
was.

The story has been parodied by just about every
cartoon show that's been on TV, so anyone
not familiar with the films will likely be familiar
with the story at least; man invents teleportation
device, man tests teleportation device without
realising a fly is in said device with him, man
comes out the other end a horrible monster. The
original version of The Fly was
slightly more dramatic than it's B-movie
sequels, but Cronenberg's version took a
very unique look at the idea and, in Cronenberg's
very distinguished styling, made a B-grade monster
movie an A-grade science fiction horror film with
a very well choreographed dramatic grounding.

A very young Jeff Goldblum stars as the brilliant
but undiscovered scientist Seth Brundle, who is
coming close to the scientific breakthrough of
the century; teleportation via molecular transference.
Starring opposite Goldblum is Geena Davis as Veronica
Quaife, a freelance journalist looking for the
next big story in science. Brundle, after a series
of tests with varying success, gets slightly drunk
and decides to test his machines on himself. Here's
where the story truly begins. Of course, the fly
gets into the teleporter with him, and the two
become one on a molecular level. What follows
isn't the monster fare seen in prior iterations,
but a film that deals with a man succumbing to
a life-threatening problem and the relationship
between him and the woman he loves.

It's this viewpoint Cronenberg takes on
the material that makes The Fly truly stand out. Brundle's transformation
into what he ultimately becomes is played out
like a man dying of cancer (obvious differences
aside), and Geena Davis excels in making us truly
feel for both her and Brundle. In all seriousness,
you could take the majority of this film, change
the horror or science fiction elements into a
terminal disease, drug addiction or mental illness,
and you would have an equally compelling dramatic
piece. There's an intellectual normality
to this film that gives it a solid grounding in
reality, and the "less is more" stance
regarding Seth's progressive transformation
is executed brilliantly.

Still, it wouldn't be Cronenberg without
the particulars his fans all know and love. The
constant referral to 'the flesh',
particularly by Goldblum's character, echoes
Cronenberg's previous films (Videodrome comes to mind immediately) and the use of body
horror is perhaps more evident in The
Fly than in any of his other works (I
won't spoil it, but the hospital sequence
is a prime example). I mentioned earlier how exposure
to films like this had desensitised me…
I didn't realise exactly how much until
the friend I was watching it with started screaming
loud enough to be heard from opposite ends of
the house, through closed doors, above running
water. It's when you sit through something
like that that you realise that, shit, this stuff
is pretty full on.

Video

The transfer is clean, without any noticeable
blemishes, but the film itself does show it's
age. The print is good, but it clearly hasn't
been restored, as it isn't quite as crisp
as films os a similar vintage (Jaws and Ghostbusters are both good
examples of this, even Aliens which
was released the same year).

Audio

The audio is the standard go for DVD's these
days. Dolby Digital 5.1 (a DTS is also included),
though it doesn't sound quite as clean as
some other releases. There's also an audio
commentary option with David Cronenberg, presented
in Dolby Digital 2.0. Now, this commentary is easily
the best commentary I've heard on a DVD since
the commentary on the 1999 release of Ghostbusters (and each subsequent release). Cronenberg talks
about just about anything and everything regarding
the film, so if you thought his interview segments
were a little light in the extras disc, this more
than compensates.

Extra Features

So far, the best array of extras I've seen
on a DVD since the Alien boxed
set. You get the standard promotional materials,
trailers, teasers, poster campaigns and such, which
are all fun to watch and look at, but it's
the deleted scenes and documentaries that really
make this DVD stand out.

The Fear of the Flesh: The Making of the Fly
is an epic series of retrospective interviews
clocking in at two and three quarter hours. Everything
you could possibly want to know about the film
is divulged along with plenty more as key cast
and crew members recount their experiences throughout
the production, right up until its release. Sadly,
Cronenberg himself doesn't make an appearance,
but his absence is more than forgiven by his outstanding
commentary.

The Brundle Museum of Natural History is a relatively
short, but nonetheless interesting feature dealing
with the special effects of the film.

Four deleted/extended scenes can be viewed, including
two extended sequences, along with Brundlefly
vs. Baglady, the Butterfly Baby dream sequence,
and the infamous Monkey-Cat sequence, which is
pure Cronenberg (but still slightly hilarious).

You get a series of special effects and make-up
tests, along with text extras which includes both
the original screenplay by Charles Edward Pogue
and the Cronenberg draft, but you also get the
original George Langelaan short story (which,
for trivia buffs, first appeared in an issue of
Playboy). There's also a huge gallery of
images including concept art, which is always
worth looking at, but even more so in the case
of The Fly.

Finally you get two easter eggs, one if you highlight
the Larvae option and press left in the Documentaries
menu, and the other by doing the same in the Deleted
Scenes menu at the Cat-Monkey option. The first
is a pretty funny interview with Goldblum where
he recounts early costume experiences, and the
second is the "How Does Brundlefly Eat?"
video.

The Verdict

All in all this is easily the best DVD package
I've picked up this year. The film is, and
always has been fantastic, and the extras here are
sure to satisfy everyone from the average moviegoer,
to the hardcore Cronenberg collector. It's
also identical to the U.S. release (terrible Aussie
cover art aside!). Just make sure you're careful
who you watch it with.

Originally born unto this world as Terror Australis.net back in March 2002, Digital Retribution is a proudly Australian website devoted to all things horror, cult, and exploitation that strives to promote Australian films and filmmakers while sharing its questionable taste in ultra-violent smut-laden local and international offerings with the rest of the world.